Blog

26 Mar

Posted at 10:13h in Corporate Communications, Professional Development
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First impressions An interviewer makes their mind up within the first seven minutes of an interview. Most of us will be well versed in how to make a good first impression in a face-to-face interview (strong handshake, confident smile), but video interviews are a different ball game. In March 2020 there was a *67% increase in the use of video interviews, and that figure has been rising ever since (*source: Monster). Whilst not always a great experience for candidates, video interviews do work and are here to stay, at least for early-stage interviews. They are COVID-secure, cost-effective, overcome geographical boundaries, and are often easier to manage in busy calendars. Here’s a summary of what we have learnt over the last year from candidates and clients about what to do and what to avoid with video interviews. Be prepared, do your research The content and structure are likely to be the same as a face-to-face interview...

08 Mar

Posted at 11:41h in Professional Development
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Looking for a new role is challenging at the best of times. But during a pandemic, how do you stand out from the crowd in such a competitive field? In our last blog we looked at perfecting your CV. In this article we are going to dive into networking during a pandemic – specifically how to get the most out of online networking. Why bother? The majority of job seekers will get their next job through a referral by someone in their network. Whether you’re currently actively looking for a new position or thinking ahead to your next big move, keeping in touch with your network is an essential part of your professional development. Networking during a pandemic At the time of writing, the UK is in lockdown. The opportunities to catch up over coffee or meet new people at industry events are either on hold or have gone online. With location no longer being...

15 Feb

Posted at 11:12h in Corporate Communications, Professional Development
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Searching for a job during a pandemic As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our economy, searching for a new job has never been more challenging. We’ve pooled our collective knowledge in a series of blogs to help you navigate your way through your job search. Our first focuses on CV advice. Articles on how to prepare for an interview and how to promote yourself will follow. Your CV is the key to unlocking opportunities Your CV is often the only way you can showcase yourself to a hiring manager. So you need to ensure it showcases your achievements, that you know it inside out and can confidently expand on anything you have included. Focus your efforts on tailoring your CV to match each role you apply for. In the digital world of jobs boards and LinkedIn, or where an in-house recruiter might not be familiar with your area of expertise, it has never been...

10 Dec

Posted at 09:39h in Corporate Communications
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2020 – a year unlike any other 2020 was always set to be a memorable year. The eyes of the world were preparing to focus on Tokyo for the Olympics, on Dubai for Expo 2020 and on London for a summer of sport including the Euro 2020 final. And then it all kicked off in Wuhan and 2020 became a year none of us will forget, for all the wrong reasons. The new normal There is no sugar coating it: 2020 has been tough for most people on both a professional and personal level. Lockdown forced everyone to work from home, with the juggle of childcare or home-schooling for many. Zoom – a tool Comms Leaders has been using for years, but previously unfamiliar to many – suddenly became THE way to communicate. COVID-19 has been polarising for the communications industry. While many professionals were furloughed or made redundant in sectors such as hospitality, leisure and...

21 Sep

Posted at 12:30h in Internal Communications, Professional Development
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By Andrew Holland A version of this blog post was written for the Institute of Internal Communications (IoIC) #IChoseIC series, where internal communications professionals share how their IC careers started and have evolved. Seize the opportunity I remember the day I discovered Internal Communications like it was yesterday. It was 7pm and I’d been at work for about 12 hours having started on the early shift. This was in a call centre for a well-known utility and I’d recently been promoted to call centre team leader. I read the job advert for an Internal Communications Assistant and it jumped out at me. It described everything I wanted to do. I successfully applied and started a 25-year career in Internal Communications, which has been rewarding at every turn! In that first IC role, I had two inspirational leaders who really helped me establish my IC credentials. The first was my manager, who was incredibly supportive, extremely...

04 Jun

Posted at 10:52h in Corporate Communications
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By Neil Davy Communications in a new era of responsible business Protecting balance sheets, supply chains, reputations, jobs and people. It’s what we’ve all been thinking about, talking about, preoccupied with. Survival. When we emerge from this pandemic the relationships and interdependencies between businesses, investors, governments and society - between all of us - will have changed inexorably. And the role of communication in establishing and sustaining those relationships and interactions will have changed too. Corporate philanthropy, CSR, community programmes and stepping-up in times of crisis are important and commendable, but simply talking about ‘doing good’ won’t be good enough. Those who prosper beyond the crisis will be businesses who can talk credibly about how they contribute to society and the wider world in a more meaningful and lasting way. It’s become painfully clear over recent weeks that those businesses for whom profit is an outcome of (not the reason for) what they do, who enhance...

30 Apr

Posted at 10:50h in Corporate Communications, Employee Engagement, Internal Communications, Professional Development
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Don't sweat the small stuff This week I’ve been interviewing candidates on Zoom. So far, so normal. I’ve worked from home for five years and although I’d rather be out and about meeting people face to face, location and schedules often necessitate video calls. However, like most people in the communications community, I’m now juggling the multiple responsibilities of home-working, home-schooling and feeding four people instead of one. Whereas before I would have been able to talk to you from a quiet home office, that space is in high demand, so instead I will be in my kitchen. Look closely and you’ll see a pile of washing up in the background, a dog scratching at the back door, and despite my best efforts to keep them away, one or more hungry boys/men tiptoeing around behind me. The point is I understand what it’s like. Job hunting is stressful at the best of times...

30 Mar

Posted at 15:12h in Corporate Communications
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By Steve Marinker, Partner at Powerscourt Notes from a Spare Room This isn’t Crisis Management; this is Contagion Comms. The COVID-19 disaster has challenged the PR industry like nothing before. While dealing with our own upheavals - lockdown, fear of illness, the spectre of redundancy – PR consultants have been advising clients as they deal with events moving at a pace few are equipped to handle. Decisions that would normally take months are being made in minutes;  cast-iron certainties melt in an instant; the useful data point we clung to this morning is discredited bunkum by lunchtime. It’s been mentally exhausting, ethically challenging, and – I have to confess - rather exhilarating. When this is over, we’ll all have our war stories. Me? I’ve spent the last fortnight advising retail clients as they respond to fast-changing, often baffling Government advice. What’s essential, what is not?. How safe is safe? Is it better to protect livelihoods...

24 Mar

Posted at 11:58h in Corporate Communications, Internal Communications, Professional Development
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These are unusual times. Yesterday the Prime Minister announced unprecedented measures to keep us all safe and to keep the NHS running. I hope that your employer has taken the responsible step of sending you home. In which case, many of you will be busy managing Coronovirus communications for your stakeholders and colleagues. You may also be juggling the joint challenges of working remotely, and home-schooling or entertaining your kids. Comms Leaders has always been an agile business, so although we’d rather be out and about meeting people, we are completely set up for home-working, with or without pets, kids, partners in self-isolation etc. Like everyone, we are concerned about the effect this virus will have on the health and finances of our families, friends and all our clients and candidates. We are here if you need us. Whether you would like a review of your CV or LinkedIn profile, to benchmark...

17 Feb

Posted at 16:40h in Employee Engagement, Internal Communications, Professional Development
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By Belinda Gannaway, Strategy Director at FathomXP The rise of EX - Employee Experience It's 30 years since the experience economy started to gain attention. But it’s taken a while for the thinking around experience and employees to collide. EX only really arrived on the scene as a way of thinking about people in the business about five years ago. But collided they have. Some 84% of HR and business leaders say EX is important or very important – but only 9% say they are ready to address this issue (Deloitte 2019 Human Capital Trends Report). What is the role of internal comms in EX? To answer that, I’m borrowing a framework from the world of service design. Imagine a theatre: The stage is where the action is happening. Internal comms has a lot of front of stage action – channels, content, campaigns, events etc. Backstage are the support processes that produce the front stage experience: the...

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